Summary of Macromolecules

Carbs
Summary:
Carbohydrates have two types of reactions: condensation reaction and hydrolysis reaction. The
condensation reaction is when monomers join together when water is removed. Hydrolysis is
when water is added to break apart a polymer. There are three types of carbohydrates:
monosaccharides, disaccharides, and polysaccharides. Monosaccharides are single sugars,
disaccharides are double sugars, and polysaccharides are polymers composed of many sugars.
Carbs are needed for energy storage and structure. Carbohydrates are made up of C, H, and O.
Sugars have multiple hydroxyl groups and aldose sugars have carbonyl groups on the end of
the molecule. Glycosidic linkages are found between each molecule. There are for types of
polysaccharides, starch, glycogen, cellulose, and chitin. Starch helps store energy in plants and
is found stored as granules within platids(chloroplast). Glycogen also helps store energy, but in
animals, and it is found in muscle and liver cells. It creates several ends for quick release of
glucose for energy. Both starch and glycogen are broken down for energy through a hydrolysis
reaction. Cellulose is needed for structure in plants. It is the most abundant sugar on earth, but
it is hard to digest. Very few organisms are able to digest cellulose. Chitin is used for structure
within arthropods and fungi. It is helpful because of how tough and protective it is and is made
up of a hydroxyl group on the second carbon. An alpha configuration is when OH group is below
plan on 1C and and example is starch where this happens. A beta configuration is when OH is
located above ring plane on 1C and this example can be found in cellulose.
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Lipids
Summary:
Lipids include fats, phospholipids, steroids, waxes, and pigments. Fats are made of a glycerol
and three fatty acids which is called triacylgycerol. The fatty acids are joined by ester linkages
due to dehydration synthesis. Fats are used for energy storage, cushion organs, insulates body,
and cellulose structure. Fats can be broken do into two types, saturated and unsaturated.
Saturated fats have single bonds between C atoms, are solid at room temp, and contribute to
cardiovascular disease. Unsaturated fats has one or more double bonds which results in a kink
in HC chain, liquid at room temp, and the kinks prevent fats from being close together.
Phospholipids contain two fatty acids and glycerol and make up the boundary of cell and
external environment. They self assemble themselves into double layers in aqueous solutions.
Steroids vary based on functional groups that attach to rings. Steroid-cholesterol is key in
animal cell membranes, help keep membranes fluid and flexible, and precursor to sex
hormones.
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Proteins
Summary:
Protein functions are chemical reactions, structure, carriers and transport, signaling, receptors
and binding, contractile and motor, and defense. Enzymes are the most important protein in the
body. They are used to regulate metabolism by acting as catalysts, to help speed up reactions.
A monomer is made of amino acids and a polymer is made of polypeptides. Amino acid
structure has a central carbon and has a carboxyl, amino group, and a side chain(R group)
attached to the central carbon. Proteins are built by dehydration synthesis of 2 or more amino
acids and COOH and NH2 group are joined by a covalent peptide bond. The sequence N-C-C is
the main part of a polypeptide chain. A protein's function always depends on its shape/structure.
There are four levels of protein structure: primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary. Primary
structure is linear based on amino acids and peptide bonds. Secondary structure is the folding
and coiling of amino acid chain, and can be and alpha helix or beta pleated sheet, and the folds
are because of H-bonds between the R-groups. Tertiary structure is based on how R-groups
interact and bond together. Quaternary structure is 2 or more polypeptide chains joined. Salt
concentration, pH, and temperature can also affect protein structure.
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Nucleic Acids
Summary:
Nucleic Acids store and transmit hereditary info and are primary storage molecules in all living
molecules. The monomer are nucleotides and they have three parts, nitrogen containing base,
pentode sugar, and PO4 group. There are two types of nucleotide bases, pyrimidines and
purines. Pyrimidines contain cytosine, thymine, and uracil. Purines contain adenine and
guanine. DNA is a polymer of the polynucleotides. Nucleotides are bonded together by
phosphodiester linkages. DNA and RNA are examples of nucleic acids. DNA is double stranded
and have an antiparallel arrangement. RNA is single stranded and is made from DNA.
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